Refresh Rate Explained: 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz and 144Hz

Refresh rate is the number of times per second a screen redraws its image, written in hertz. It is the specification behind smooth scrolling, fluid animation and responsive games - and it is the one most often bought without understanding what each step actually changes.

What each step gives you

• 60Hz redraws sixty times a second. It is the historical default and still perfectly readable for reading, messaging and browsing. Motion is adequate rather than fluid, and scrolling text shows more jitter than higher-rate panels.
• 90Hz is the budget sweet spot. The jump from 60 to 90 is visible in everyday scrolling and costs less power than 120.
• 120Hz is the current mainstream target. Scrolling, list inertia and system animation look markedly smoother than 60, and most people can pick the difference in a side-by-side test.
• 144Hz and 165Hz are gaming-oriented steps. Beyond 120 the gains are visible mainly in fast games with high frame rates; for scrolling and video,120 and 165 look very similar.

Diminishing returns apply. The perceptible leap is from 60 to 90 or 120; every step after that is smaller, and each one is only worth paying for if your content actually runs at those frame rates.

What our database records

Across the 47 phones we track, 120Hz is the norm (34 phones), while 60Hz appears on five - the Apple iPhone 15, iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17e and iPhone SE (3rd Gen). The high-refresh outliers are gaming and flip devices: 165Hz on the Asus ROG Phone 8, Motorola Razr+ 2024, Motorola Razr Fold and OnePlus 15, and 144Hz on the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra and Motorola Edge 2024. Two phones sit at 90Hz.

That distribution is the practical story: if you are comparing phones in the mainstream tier, refresh rate will not separate them - panel type, brightness and camera will. It separates phones only when one of them is an iPhone at 60 against an Android flagship at 120.

Adaptive refresh and LTPO

A fixed-rate panel runs at its maximum all the time, which wastes power when nothing moves. Adaptive panels drop to lower rates when the content is static and ramp up for scroll and animation. LTPO backplanes widen that range - often down to 1Hz for an always-on display - which is why LTPO appears in panel names on higher-end phones.

Two caveats. Some phones advertise 120Hz but lock certain apps or video players to 60, so the advertised maximum is not a universal rate. And an always-on display at a low fixed rate is a different feature from adaptive refresh during use.

The battery trade-off

Higher refresh rates draw more power - the panel has to update more often and the GPU has to produce more frames. Adaptive refresh blunts most of the difference in normal use, but a panel running at maximum rate continuously (a game, a long scroll session) will cost you more than the same phone at 60. This is a real consideration on smaller-battery phones, and it is why the honest comparison pairs refresh rate with battery capacity rather than quoting either alone.

Frame rate and refresh rate are different numbers

The refresh rate is what the screen can display; the frame rate is what your content supplies. A 60fps video looks identical on a 120Hz and a 165Hz panel - the extra headroom has nothing to draw. In games, the GPU must produce the frames: a high-refresh panel paired with a GPU that cannot push 120fps in that title buys you nothing. Conversely, a 60Hz panel capped at 60 limits smoothness no matter how fast the processor is.

What else decides perceived smoothness

Refresh rate is necessary but not sufficient. Perceived smoothness also depends on:

• Touch sampling rate - how often the panel polls your finger. This is what makes a game feel responsive, and it is a separate number from refresh rate.
• Animation design - long, well-timed animations feel smoother than short, abrupt ones at the same refresh rate.
• Brightness and dimming - panels using low-frequency PWM dimming can show visible flicker at low brightness regardless of refresh rate; some people notice it, most do not.
• Content frame rate - recorded on our pages as the maximum video resolution and frame rate a phone supports.

Comparing two phones honestly

Put refresh rate next to the three numbers that give it context: panel type (OLED panels respond faster), battery capacity (the cost of running high), and the phone's chipset (the ability to feed the panel). Our Spec Comparison shows those rows together for any two phones in the database, and the Product Finder can filter by refresh rate if it is a hard requirement for you.

The practical rule: treat 120Hz as the baseline you should expect, go to 144 or 165 only if you game on the device, and do not pay a premium for refresh rate while the panel brightness or battery is worse - those are the specs you will notice more often.